Fate's Game ~HARULAS

The room was quiet again, save for the soft ticking of the clock on the wall and the distant hum of traffic outside. Nico and Harua were still on the couch, but the space between them felt different now—less like a divide, more like a place where something had shifted, something unspoken.

Harua, still trying to process his own emotions from their earlier conversation, leaned back against the couch, staring out the window. He had been so caught up in Nico's past, in the idea of Emiko, that he hadn't fully considered his own past, his own feelings. But now, sitting here, the weight of those memories started to stir again. It was a feeling he hadn't revisited in a long time—one he'd buried for reasons he couldn't even fully explain. But with Nico sitting next to him, with all the tension between them, it was as if the dam holding those memories back had cracked.

"I should tell you something," Harua muttered, feeling a strange tightness in his chest as he turned to face Nico. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling so vulnerable. Maybe it was because Nico had shared something personal with him, and now he felt like it was his turn to do the same.

Nico, sensing the shift in his tone, turned his full attention to Harua, his eyes softening with quiet curiosity. "What's on your mind?"

Harua hesitated for a moment before speaking. The words felt foreign on his tongue, but he couldn't shake the need to say them. "I told you about my first love. Well, I guess... I should probably tell you the full story."

Nico raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? I'm all ears."

Harua swallowed hard, gathering his thoughts. "It's a little embarrassing, actually," he admitted, his voice quiet. "But I've never really told anyone about it. My first love... it wasn't anything like what people expect. It was... strange."

Nico tilted his head, waiting patiently. Harua could feel the weight of his gaze, the unspoken encouragement that made it easier to continue.

"I was about sixteen, and I had this brief meeting with someone. It was... a chance encounter, really. He was this guy I met one day while I was walking home. He was just sitting by the park bench, reading a book. I didn't think much of it at first, but then he said something to me."

Nico's expression grew more focused as Harua's words hung in the air.

"He looked up at me and said, 'You're not what I expected, but you're exactly what I need.'" Harua chuckled nervously, feeling the weight of that memory, that fleeting encounter. "I didn't even know his name. I don't know why, but it was one of those moments that stuck with me. He had this... this aura about him, like he knew exactly what was going on in my head. And then he left. I never saw him again. I tried to find him after that, but I never could. I don't even know if he ever really existed in the way I remember him."

Harua paused, looking down at his hands. The embarrassment from that moment all those years ago bubbled to the surface again. It felt silly now, ridiculous even. How could he have been so infatuated with someone he barely knew? But that person had meant something to him, even if he didn't understand it at the time.

"That's..." Harua trailed off, unsure of how to finish. He had told himself he wouldn't think about it anymore, but here he was, bringing it all up again. "I guess I've always wondered what would've happened if I'd gotten to know him better."

There was a long, heavy silence as Nico sat still beside him. Harua didn't dare look at him, too embarrassed to face whatever reaction was on Nico's face. But then, to his surprise, Nico leaned in, his voice low but clear.

"Wait. Hold on. He said that?" Nico asked, his words cutting through the air like a sudden spark. "He said, 'You're not what I expected, but you're exactly what I need'?"

Harua's breath caught in his throat. He turned to look at Nico, who was now staring at him with an intense gaze, a slight frown furrowing his brow.

"That's... exactly what I said to you, isn't it?"

Harua's mind raced. The words sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put the pieces together. He searched Nico's eyes, waiting for something to click, for something to make sense.

But it didn't.

Then, Nico continued, his voice still calm, but there was something else behind it now—a mix of surprise and realization. "You're telling me... that you never recognized me?"

Harua's heart began to pound in his chest, a sudden jolt of confusion hitting him like a ton of bricks. "What are you talking about?"

Nico leaned back, crossing his arms as he let out a low chuckle, a strange combination of amusement and disbelief. "Harua, think about it. I'm the guy you met. I'm the one who said that to you."

Harua's blood ran cold, and for a second, his vision blurred as the world seemed to stop spinning. His mouth went dry, and the realization slowly crept up on him, flooding his mind.

"You're saying... you were my first love?" Harua breathed, almost too stunned to form the words properly.

Nico nodded slowly, his expression softening. "Yeah. It was me. I was that guy. I had no idea you were the one I'd met until we met again, but it was always you, Harua."

Harua blinked rapidly, trying to wrap his mind around the thought. The guy who had said those words, the guy who had left such an impression on him, was sitting right beside him. It was like some sort of cosmic joke—the universe had been pulling strings all along, pushing them together without either of them knowing.

"That... that's insane," Harua muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "But... how could I have not recognized you? I mean, we had one meeting. I only remember your voice, and—"

Nico interrupted him, a teasing smile on his face. "I guess I left a bigger impression than you thought."

Harua looked at him, his mind still reeling. "You really don't look like you did then. I mean, you look different. You're..."

"Older?" Nico finished with a smirk. "Yeah. But I haven't changed that much. You just didn't recognize me because we didn't know we were connected like this."

Harua's chest tightened, and he felt a mixture of emotions rising inside him—confusion, disbelief, and a strange warmth. It was so overwhelming that he didn't know how to react. He had spent so long wondering about that encounter, about the person who had made him feel something he couldn't explain, and now it was all falling into place.

"I can't believe this," Harua muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "You... were my first love? And I didn't even know it?"

Nico laughed softly, the sound surprisingly tender. "I guess that's how fate works, huh? We were meant to cross paths again, even if we didn't know it."

Harua chuckled, though there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "This is crazy. But... I guess it's kind of beautiful, too, don't you think?"

Nico's smile softened, and he leaned closer to Harua. "It is, isn't it? Fate's been playing games with us all along."